Looper operating mechanism



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Oct. 12, 1937. H. G. R. BENNETT LOOPER OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 21,

Patented Oct. 12, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to loopers such as are used between the various stands of a continuous rolling mill for the purpose of providing loops in the work between these stands so that rolling speed miscalculations may be accommodated, one of the objects being to provide an improved looper which quickly and surely forms a loop in the work and maintains the same without the use of undue pressure. Other objects may be inferred.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a cross-section of a looper embodying an example of the invention.

Figure 2 is a detail from Figure 1 showing the operation involved.

The looper illustrated by the. above drawing includes a roller I mounted by a slidable rack 2 so that it may be moved from a position where it is on one side of the pass line of a mill to variable positions on the other side. This roller engages the work 3, which is that passing through the mill, and deflects it into a loop upon movement of the rack 2, its extreme looping position being determined by the limitation of this rack.

A plurality of weights 4, 5 and 6 are provided, a vertical rod 1 carrying these weights one above another so that those above the bottom weight 4 can slide. These weights work in a guide 8 which provides shoulders 9 and [0 arranged to successively engage and support the weights 5 and 6 upon downward movement of the rod 1 so as to successively relieve the latter of their effect.

This rod 1 is connected to a rope II which passes over pulleys l2 and 13, the latter pulley turning a gear H! which meshes with the rack 2. This rope passes over various other pulleys until it reaches one marked [5, and this pulley I5 is mounted by a cross-head I 6 which is held up by a latch IT. This cross-head It may be cocked by means of the driving mechanism l8.

In operation, the cross-head I6 is cooked in its up position so that the pulley I5 is raised to shorten the rope II and thus draw the rod 1 to its uppermost position. This cocking action turns the gear l4 so that the rack 2 is drawn to a point where the roller l is in an inoperative position. As soon as the work passes between the stands between which this looper is positioned, the latch l! is released so that the cross-head l6 immediately falls to its lower position and allows the various weights on the rod 1 to come into play. All of the weights are effective at first so that the looper is urged towards its maximum looping position with a force which is suificiently great to assure a quick starting movement. The weight 6 soon comes to rest on the shoulder I0 so that its effect is removed, and the looper is urged a correspondingly less amount. As the looper approaches its maximum position, the weight 5 comes to rest on the shoulder 9, so that only the weight 4 is left to operate the looper.

It is obvious that the above described mechanism provides a means for urging the looper to looping positions with forces which automatically decrease as the looper is urged towards its maximum looping position, from a force which is sufficiently great to assure a quick starting movement towards this maximum position so as to cause a quick initial looping of the work, to a force which urges the looper in this direction so as to maintain a loop in the work without undue pressure against the latter.

Although the looper here disclosed forms a loop in a horizontal direction, it is to be understood that the invention is equally applicable if the looper is so designed as to form a vertical loop. Therefore, the invention is not tobe limited exactly to this specific example, except as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a looper for work passing between the stands of a continuous mill, a plurality of weights, a vertical rod carrying said weights one above the other and so that those above the bottom one may slide thereon, means for engaging and supporting one or more of said weights upon downward movement of said rod so that the latter is relieved of their effect, and means for connecting said rod to said looper so that downward movement thereof urges the latter toward its maximum looping position.

2. The combination of a looper for work passing between the stands of a continuous mill, at least one vertically movable weight, a rope having one end fixed to said weight and its other end fixed stationary, a. rotary element adapted to operate said looper, a pulley rotatively associated with said element and about which said rope is passed, a movable pulley about which said rope is also passed, said rope being associated with said weight and said pulleys so that movement of said movable pulley respecting said weight raises the latter, means for so moving said movable pulley and quick-releasable means for holding said movable pulley when the same is moved by the first named means to a position where it raises said weight.

3. A method of operating a looper for work passing between the stands of a continuous rolling mill, including initially urging the looper toward its maximum looping position with a force sufficiently great to assure a quick starting movement of the same and subsequently urging it with a lesser force so as to maintain a loop in the work without undue pressure against the latter.

HERBERT G. R. BENNE'I'I. 

